Lisa Gastoni is an Italian-born actress, active in British films in the 1950's and in Italian films and television from 1961 until the present.
She was born Elisabetta Gastone on July 28th 1935 in Alassio, Italy to an Irish mother and Italian father. She is 1,7 m (5’7”) tall with grey-green eyes.
Her father ran a hotel in Liguria and on the nazi-fascist occupation was offered the post of mayor, which he refused. This resulted in him somehow winding up in a concentration camp, after which he was never the same.
Lisa moved to England at a young age, where she became a protégée of actor Charles Laughton and began working as a stage actress and model. This in turn led to her joining the Rank Charm School, where she studied film acting alongside the likes of Diana Dors, Joan Collins and Belinda Lee.
Making her film debut with 6 appearances in 1954, she worked steadily in British films and television for the next 7 years, achieving some success, but never landing any roles prestigious enough to launch her career to the next level. She was married briefly to an English physics professor in the mid-1950’s.
In 1961 she married Constantine Maurus and accepted the lead in the Italian production Le avventure di Mary Read. The success of this film led to further offers and she relocated to her native Italy, where she would remain for the rest of her life. She scored a major success with her appearance in Svegliati e uccidi (1966), for which she won a number of acting awards, however her role as a “decadent and desirable bourgeois woman“ also somewhat typecast her. She scored a further success and more awards for her performance in Grazie zia (1968).
Following a series of films where she played a sexual victim in fairly graphic scenarios, disattisfied with the direction of her career, Lisa retired from the screen in 1978.
For the next 27 years she disappeared from view, preferring to live out of the public eye, painting and writing. In 2005 she accepted an offer from Ferzan Ozpetek to appear in a major role in his production of Cuore sacro. This initiated a belated comeback at the age of 70 and for the next 12 years she worked steadily in films and television.
Currently her last screen roles date from 2017. Whether or not these will be her final appearances remains to be seen…
- Beautiful Stranger .... Yvette (credited)
- Dance Little Lady .... Amaryllis (credited)
- Doctor in the House .... Jane (uncredited)
- The Runaway Bus .... Receptionist (credited as "Liza Gastone")
- They Who Dare .... George Two's girlfriend (credited)
- You Know What Sailors Are …. Palace girl (uncredited)
1955 - Josephine and Men .... Italian girl (credited)
- Man of the Moment .... Chambermaid (credited)
1956 - The Baby and the Battleship .... Maria Vespucci (credited)
- Three Men in a Boat .... Primrose (credited)
1957 - Blue Murder at St. Trinian's .... Myrna Mangan (credited)
- Face in the Night .... Jean Francis (poster credit - unconfirmed role)
- Man from Tangier .... Michele (credited)
- Second Fiddle .... Pauline (credited)
- The Truth About Women .... Mary Maguire (credited)
1958 - Chain of Events .... Simone Day (credited)
- Family Doctor .... Kitty Mortlock (poster credit - unconfirmed role)
- Intent to Kill .... Carla Menda (credited)
- The Strange Awakening .... Marny Friend (credited)
1959 - Skyport (TV series) 2 episodes .... Pooch (credited)
- Wrong Number .... Maria (poster credit - unconfirmed role)
- The Four Just Men (TV series) Ep. 12: "Maya" .... Giulia (credited)
- The Third Man (TV series) S. 2, Ep.19: "Death in Small Instalments" …. Roxane (credited)
1960 - Danger Man (TV series) S. 1, Ep. 4: "The Blue Veil" .... Clare Nichols (credited)
- The Four Just Men (TV series) Ep. 39: "Treviso Dam" .... Giulia (credited)
- Visa to Canton .... Lola Sanchez (credited)
1961 - Danger Man (TV series) S. 1, Ep. 25: "The Brothers" .... Lita Rossi (credited)
- Le avventure di Mary Read .... Mary Read (credited)
- One Step Beyond (TV series) S. 3, Ep. 28: "The Avengers" .... Marianne (credited)
- The Great Armored Car Swindle .... Eva (no credit info - unconfirmed role)
1962 - Diciottenni al sole .... Frances (credited)
- Duello nella Sila .... Miss Leonore Barker (credited)
- Tharus figlio di Attila .... Princess Gamal (credited)
1963 - Gidget Goes to Rome .... Signora Cellini (credited)
- I quattro moschettieri .... Milady de Winter (credited)
- Il monaco di Monza .... Fiorenza, marchesa del Giglio (credited)
- Il vendicatore mascherato .... Elena (credited)
- Ro.Go.Pa.G. .... Togni's wife (credited)
1964 - Crimine a due .... Elisabeth Buckner (credited)
- Gli invincibili tre .... Alina (credited)
- I maniaci .... Giulio's wife (credited)
- I tre centurioni .... Elena (credited)
- L'ultimo gladiatore .... Messalina (credited)
- Le sette vipere .... Erika Montesanto (credited)
1965 - La violenza e l'amore .... Luisa (poster credit - unconfirmed role)
- Le notti della violenza .... Linda (credited)
1966 - I criminali della galassia .... Lieutenant Connie Gomez (credited)
- I diafanoidi vengono da Marte .... Lieutenant Connie Gomez (credited)
- L'uomo che ride .... Lucrezia Borgia (credited)
- Svegliati e uccidi .... Yvonne Lutring (credited)
1968 - Grazie zia .... Lea (credited)
- I sette fratelli Cervi .... Lucia Sarzi (credited)
- La pecora nera .... Alma Galletti (credited)
1969 - L'amica .... Lisa Marchesi (credited)
1970 - L'invasione .... Marina (poster credit - unconfirmed role)
1971 - Maddalena .... Maddalena (credited)
1973 - La seduzione .... Caterina (credited)
1974 - Amore amaro .... Renata Andreoli (credited)
- Mussolini ultimo atto .... Claretta Petacci (credited)
1975 - Labbra di lurido blu .... Elli (credited)
1976 - Scandalo .... Eliane (credited)
1978 - L'immoralità .... Vera, Simona's mother (credited)
2005 - Cuore sacro .... Eleonora (credited)
2006 - La provinciale (TV movie) .... Giacinta Foresi (no credit info - unconfirmed role)
2007 - Maria Montessori: una vita per i bambini (TV movie) .... Gemma Montesano (credited)
- Tutte le donne della mia vita .... Diletta (poster credit - unconfirmed role)
2010 - Cocapop .... Bibi (credited)
2011 - Dove la trovi una come me? (TV mini-series) Eps. 1, 2 .... Donna Anna (credit unknown)
2012 - Sposami (TV series) Eps. 1-6 .... Aunt Clo Clo (credited)
2017 - Voice from the Stone .... Lilla (credited)
- Assignment Foreign Legion (1957 TV series) Ep. 16: "The White Kepi", IMDb as Jacqueline
- O.S.S. (1957 TV series) Ep. 8: "Operation Blue Eyes", IMDb as Blue Eyes
- Sailor of Fortune (1957 TV series) Ep.2: "The Golden Head", IMDb as Lucille
- The New Adventures of Martin Kane (1957 TV series) Eps. 2 & 22, IMDb as Helen Reardon
- You Are There (1958 TV series) S. 2, Ep.16: "The Fall of Robespierre", IMDb
- The Four Just Men (1959-60 TV series) 16 episodes to be checked, IMDb as Giulia
- International Detective (1960 TV series) S. 1, Ep.7: "The Prescott Case", IMDb as Monette
- Knight Errant Limited (1960 TV series) S. 2, Ep.19: "Brother Cain", IMDb as Kendrick
- The Odd Man (1960 TV series) Eps.1, 3, 4, 5 & 6, IMDb as Dorothy Berridge
- BBC Sunday-Night Play (1961 TV series) S. 2, Ep.12: "Venus Brown", IMDb as Venus Brown
- International Detective (1961 TV series) S. 1, Ep.38: "The Washington Case", IMDb as Denise De Montceau
- The Cheaters (1961 TV series) S. 2, Ep.9: "Murder Fugue", IMDb as Ilona
- Un giro di valzer (2014) IMDb as Marcella
- L'onore e il rispetto (2017 TV series) Season 5, episodes 1-8, IMDb
- Bikini pericolosi (Le roi du village) (1963) IMDb with no role. Lisa is not credited and does not appear.
1. Cristiano Sanna Martini. Ero diventata un mito, la bellissima da desiderare. E io sono sparita. Le due vite di Lisa Gastoni. on Spettacoli Tiscali.it. 2. Profile of Lisa Gastoni in Tototruffa 2002.it. 3. Profile of Lisa Gastoni in Brian’s Drive-In Theatre.com. |